Orlando Comets

(KB - 08/23/05) The Blue team continued to struggle in championship games at Disney Spring Fling. Undefeated in pool play, the Blue team marched thru the brackets and found themselves facing the South Florida Jaguars in the championship game. The Blue team beat the Jags 62-46 in pool play. But the third place Jags moved thru the brackets with wins over the Jupiter Jags and the Naples Thunder. Meanwhile, the Blue team faced a local nemesis, Faye Robinson's Next Level. The Next Level was composed of several ex-Orlando Miracle 13U players and some Seminole County 15 year olds. Coached by James Thomas, the Next Level were a gritty, in-your-face, man-to-man defensive team. Next Level had never beaten the Blue team, but they always gave tough battles that led to -- you guessed it -- Comets Blue running out of gas. Comets Blue beat Next Level in the semi-finals, 59-52. In the championship game against SF Jags, the Blue team played exactly like a team that psychologically held a 16 point advantage over their opponents. They played over-confidently. They played as if "This team is going to wilt. We killed them last time." But, if anything, the Jags played harder. And once again, Blue team injuries came back to bite them. Asia Wilson aggravated her nagging ankle injury and pulled herself from a close game with 3 minutes to play. The Blue team lost the Spring Fling championship by one point, 54-53. At this point one had to wonder: Is the team jinxed? As in 2004, the Blue team came home with a number of silver trophies. But this time they were not losing to the Red team every weekend. Quite frankly, they were losing championship games to teams they should have beaten. Let us correct that. They were CONSISTENTLY losing championship games to teams they should have beaten. What was interesting at this juncture was the spin doctoring that came about. The Comets Red team is and always has been about the W. It wasn't until very lately that any talk about college "exposure" and scouting came from anyone in the Red team camp. But the Blue team now latched onto the "exposure" mantra and preached it to all who would listen. "Never mind that championship loss. We impressed the scouts. Look, here. After that game so-and-so received letters from Savannah State, William & Mary AND Wilberforce." OK. But what about the original plan? Every team from Peewee League to the WNBA looks over their season schedule and maps out wins. "This is a win. These three games are wins, too. This tournament is a win." No one publishes this pre-season marking, but to say it doesn't happen would be dishonest. The Blue team mapped out several tournament wins in pre-season and had yet to capture the ring. External observers noted that the probability of losing that many championship games due to injury and exhaustion was low. Snide questions about the coaching circulated, but the Blue team periodically brought in Red team coaches to sit on the bench and achieved the same results. Criticism of the Blue team flourished. It was felt that the Blue team had all the components of a champion and none of the gel. The Blue team had high school freshman varsity starters at every position. What was up with the Sunday funk? The wags that cover AAU girls basketball in Florida were having a field day. Meanwhile, a very unusual, but very good thing was happening. Through all the criticism and the championship losses, the Blue team was actually developing some pretty good players. Everyone already knew about Curry, Wilson and Jackson. Gathering known talent is the foundation of any AAU team. But the Blue team uncovered previously unknown diamonds in 6'2" center Jelana Childs and 5'7" guard Lallique Roman. More and more as the 2005 season progressed, Childs and Roman were noted for their hustle and overall outstanding play. Childs in particular grew three inches over the past year and developed a basketball body that had scouts drooling. And Childs came off the bench, too. Noting the Blue team's unspectacular record in championship games, a number of coaches wondered why the Blue team didn't go with a big front line of Curry, Brittany Waters AND Childs--all six footers with speed. Instead, the Blue team went with a starting lineup of Jessica George, Tiara Jackson, Asia Wilson, Curry and Waters. Childs began to attract attention separately from the Blue team. At the UCF team camp in June, a number of college coaches were overheard saying "Wait until the big girl with the glasses gets into the game. Watch her. She's strong." Blue team observers began to conclude that the Blue team would win more games in direct proportion to Jelana's minutes. Roman, too, attracted attention. Coaches love hustle players and Lallique accumulated more floorburns than all of the Blue team players combined. She was consistently diving after loose balls and scrambling defensively. While her jumpshot was fair to middlin', her overall passion for the game was the thing that drew the most attention. She, too, came off the Blue team bench. At this juncture the Blue team made another incomprehensible move. They signed Ally Harrison away from the Hollywood Sun Eagles 14U team. Ally is another six footer who is known for playing best in a structured environment. She's not exceptionally strong in the post, but has a nice stroke and could do some damage as a swingman. The Blue team saw this potential but never capitalized on it. A team that had trouble finding minutes for Jelana Childs found almost no minutes for Ally Harrison. This signing did not help the Blue team one whit, but it severely handicapped the Sun Eagles and directly led to that team's first round loss at AAU 14U Nationals. In June 2005, the Blue team followed the Red Team to the Nike Garden City City Classic in Augusta, GA. This tournament was the nadir of the Blue team's season. They went 0-3 in pool play, then lost their first bracket game and were eliminated from the tourney. Whereas in prior tournaments the Blue team blasted through pool play and made it to the championship game, at the Garden City Classic they went winless. No amount of spin could deflect the criticism now. The Blue team's inconsistency during the early season was understandable, but to go winless just three weeks prior to AAU Nationals was something else. The Blue team endured the criticisms and the sidelong glances stoicly. The team had decided to attend AAU 15U Division II Nationals and was placing all their bets on their performance at Nike's Basketball on the Bayou in Louisiana.